Sabres Flyers Preview

Well I haven't done a preview in a little bit, due to being busy and lazy at the same time. Its a rough combination. They are kinda dry, kinda boring, and with teams you are already familiar with and you know who is on them and what they do, they get very repetitive. But with the season winding down and every game important, lets crank up the preview machine.

The Sabres head into Philly tonight for a "nationally televised game" which has major playoff impact. The Flyers have been surging of late, minus their expensive center Daniel Briere. A signing that is going to kill them over the next few years. With the Cap going nowhere but down. The Flyers are 4th in the conference with 80 points, 7 ahead of the 10th placed Sabres and have 2 games on hand. They are 6-3-1 in their last 10, while the Sabres are 4-5-1. The Flyers aren't a team the Flyers are chasing, but will need to beat them in order to climb up the standings to the team that are. Who I'm going to think cool down in the next two weeks, its a streaky league. And teams stay hot for 10 or 12 games, then have a down turn.

Well Danny "poetic justice" Briere will not play tonight due to his torn groin issues. But we will see everyone's favorite Marty Biron in net tonight. Who is no doubt playing for a contract next year. Which of course no one will have money to spend. So good luck Marty!

Marty has pretty decent stats this year, 20-13-5 .912 Sv% and 2.79 GAA. Him and Niitymaki are pretty interchangeable. Thats why they haven't settled on a #1. But with Marty's good play in the playoffs last year, I see them riding him. Unless he starts to struggle.

The Flyers are very offensive team. They have 6 guys with 20 or more goals, then it falls off a cliff. But thats two solid lines of offense. Led by Jeff Carter and Mike Richards. Both have 66 points on the year. Richards is more a set up man, versus the goal scorer that is Jeff Carter. Simone Gagne has 60 points, Scott Hartnell 46, Mike Knuble 41 and Joffrey Lupul 40. You can't really take a shift off against these guys. Because when the first two lines are off the ice, the next few will punish you. Especially with a acquistion of Dan Carcillo. Who is crazy I think.

The defense is okay I think. It maybe their biggest weakness outside of goaltender. Kimmo Timonen is their best defender. Coburn and Carle are nice D Men, but they aren't what I call great. The Flyers will be a tough first round out, due to their offense. But when push comes to shove, I don't think they have to make a run this year.

The Sabres on the other hand, need this game. They are 3 points out of 8th. Yes only 4 out of 5th. But they can't lose 2 in a row. They don't know when Miller is back, and they are riding Lalime, even though he had a tough outing in Ottawa. They are rested, Derek Roy has the flu. But they need a full team effort. This is a very important week. The Flyers tonight. The Panthers on Thursday and the Thrashers on Saturday. They need to take 5 out of 6 points in this stretch.

Well game is at 7pm enjoy.

Marty not doing so hot this year.

Well beloved former Sabre, Marty Biron, is not off to a hot start. You may say he is off to a oh god he should be the backup for the Philadelphia Phantoms. He was pretty good last year, in fact I was making the argument the Sabres should wait to sign Miller and get Marty back at a cheaper rate and wait for Enroth. I obviously know nothing and would be a horrible GM.

I know the Philly defense is banged up, but his numbers are god awful lets take a peak.

0-3-0 Not good, even Thibault could win a game

.824 Sv % wow thats awful.

5.75 GAA. Andrew Peters would have a better GAA if you slapped him in net.

He has faced 74 shots and let 13 goals in. That is hey we are going to put you on waivers or trade you, because, even the Kings think that is terrible goaltending. I don't know if hes hurt and hiding it, since he's in a contract year, but those numbers aren't going to help him. As a Sabre fan, I feel confident we have the right french canadian backup.

Marty I'm sure you'll straighten things out. Or you'll find yourself back in Buffalo as the third host of the Enforcers.

Oh and Craig Rivet needs surgery.

That sure came out of nowhere. Well here comes the Nathan Paetsch experience, please play well Nathan. We depend on you.

Sabres Flyers Preview

Well here we go almost a week after they last met, a game I guess you can say swung momentum for both teams. Since that pre trade deadline debacle by the Sabres. The "poetic justice" game. The Sabres have gone 1-2, the Flyers 2-0-1. Critical points lost by the Sabres and critical points gained by the Flyers. This is a critical game for the Sabres, one of those must win scenarios. They need to keep pace, they lose tonight, and the playoffs are slip sliding away. Which for this club and the PR department is something they don't need hearing about all summer. The ghosts of Drury and Briere will haunt them again, especially if there is playoff success enjoyed by either one. For their own sake, their own pride, they need to win tonight in Philly. Nothing pretty, nothing fancy, just a win. By any means necessary.

So who is going for the Flyers tonight?

Well Mike Richards is still out, so Danny Briere is going to have to bring it tonight, along with the rest of the offensive cast. New guy Vinny Prospal, RJ Umberger, Mike Knuble and Scotty Hartnell. Basically Danny Briere and guys they acquired through trades. Oh yeah and that douche bag Jeff Carter. I don't know why, but he rubs me the wrong way. Marty Biron has started the last 4 games, so I would expect him tonight. Its obvious he has won back the favor of John Stevens.

Outlook

The Sabres are scratching Paille and Kalinin, to send a message I guess. Putting in Peters and Sekera instead. Sekera is a future starter so might as well put him in. He'll probably take Kalinin's spot next year when he leaves. Cheaper and just as good, maybe better. Peters is in for guys like Riley Cote and Steve Downie. I would imagine The Kaleta! will be unleashed a bit tonight. Mair, Peters and Kaleta are instructed to hit anything that moves. I guess you could think the Sabres are angry at how they are playing, at least their Coach is. It just seems like sometimes they don't care or they think they'll pull it out. On second thought maybe a year without the playoffs wouldn't be the worse thing for this team. Make them question how good are they. Because, I have no idea how good the Sabres really are.

Sabres Flyers Preview

Well, well, well. The Philadelphia Flyers and their 10 game losing streak. Wait a minute that sounds familiar. Uh oh, the Sabres snapped theirs with a 10-1 win. I hope that doesn't happen tonight. Lucky for the Sabres they are coming off a sloppy loss at home. And I'm sure if Brian Campbell is going to get traded, he wants to look good for the fans one last time. Or be a complete train wreck. I find it odd that the player they called up was a defenseman. A puck handling defenseman. Wait hes a LW now? Oh man I missed that change, thats not good when they are converting defensemen. But why do the Sabres have him as a Defenseman? WHAT IS MARC ANDRE GRAGNANI????? If he was a defensemen I find it odd they called him up, since hes the offensive kind, with Weber, Suckera and Card and Funk the more stay at home kinds. If that doesn't say, WE'RE TRADING BRIAN CAMPBELL, BUT NOT UNTIL RON WILSON GIVES US PATRICK MARLEAU, I don't know what does.

So the Flyers who is doing what?

Well with Mike Richards out, that takes out the top scorer. Leaving old Danny Briere as the top offensive weapon. Danny is having a disappointing year for someone being paid 10 million dollars, but thats obvious. Only if he had 50 goals would people go, yeah hes worth that. But his defensive liabilities are really hurting on the team, and with the injuries, hes only gonna get more ice time. So look for Lindy to match up the Vanek line when Danny is out there. RJ Umberger is the 3rd leading scorer? Really? Mmm, I can see Mike Knuble 4th, but I thought RJ Umberger was a middle of the line type player. But Jeff Carter and Scott Hartnell are others to look out for. The Flyers are just massively struggling right now. Plus the goaltenders aren't helping them out. Good thing the Flyers only gave Marty a couple year deal, so they can ditch him soon.

Outlook

Well things are tough to call here, the last possible game for Campbell before being traded, hopefully to San Jose, the Flyers might come out desperate and just put everything out there, and don't have to worry about being booed. The Sabres do need this game and probably playing is the best distraction from the trade deadline. Don't expect a blowout, but a tight one, possibly going to the dreaded shootout.

Etc.

Whats up with these music videos the Sabres churn out?

Sabres Flyers Preview

Hey its the return of Martin Biron and Daniel Briere to Buffalo. Thats nice, its mostly a good marketing tool for the Sabres to jack up the price of tickets to this contest. Ooo Danny is back, we didn't pay him, so let the fans pay us, to see him again. Yay! MONEY! Though as a business person this is brilliant. Keep salaries low but charge higher prices. But still its an important two game set. Since both are tied in the standings and a sweep by one could put some cushion for later. And yes I and doing this preview for both games, since I'm lazy and I don't know if I'll have the time. So there.

So whats been going on with the Flyers?

Well as the weather got colder, so did the Flyers. Either teams were like this team still sucks and got shocked or started to play them better. Or the fact Simon Gagne is out of the lineup. But the Flyers are 2-6 in the month of December, compared to the Sabres 6-3 in December. And Philly has lost 4 straight, while the Sabres have won 4 straight. But the Flyers are much improved from the year before, due to the signing of Briere and the trades they made last year, including all the prospects from the Forsberg deal. But the Sabres and Flyers have similar standing. Both Scoring around 100 goals on the year and giving up around 90. The only difference, Philly started off hot and has gotten cold. While the Sabres started cold and have gotten hot.

Who does what on the Flyers

Well Danny Briere is not the leading scorer on the team. Mike Richards is, and maybe thats why they just signed him to a 12 year deal (why?) Mike Richards has 39 points on the year with 16 goals. Danny is second with 35 points and 15 goals. 12 of their 31 goals are on on the power play, so don't take penalties against the flyers. 8 of Knubles 10 goals are on the power play. Joffrey Lupul is also having a decent year. He has 27 points on the season. While old pal RJ Umberger is 4th on the Flyers with 22 points, so he is living up to his potential. Their defense seems to be playing better with no one a serious minus, besides Rory Fitzpatrick and Danny Briere. Obviously getting better goaltending from Marty Biron has helped out the Flyers. He has a .921 sv% and a 2.69 GAA. Hes faced more shots then Ryan Miller in 3 less games. So the Flyers give up a ton of shots.

Outlook

Well I think the Sabres will come out strong against the Flyers, wanting to show they don't need Danny, and this is a different team. Ryan Miller won't want to lose to Biron. But the potential loss of Roy and Connelly from these games could really hurt the Sabres. But who knows, they just might be jacked up for tonight, especially coming off a bad effort against the Islanders. I say look out for the Sabres in Fridays game, but the Flyers will be better at home on Saturday, though they have been struggling of late at Wachovia. I say we'll see a split this weekend.